


Jar Of Hearts

by MedieavalBeabe



Category: FrozenDuchess - Fandom, Loki/Georgiana - Fandom
Genre: Brothers, Family, Frost Giants - Freeform, Gen, Healing, Help, Loki Feels, Loki Needs a Hug, Love, New Beginnings, Nightmares, Odin's A+ Parenting, Repairing a Relationship, Romance, Sickness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-19 08:14:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5960374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MedieavalBeabe/pseuds/MedieavalBeabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I learned to live half a life, and now you want me one more time...”</p><p>In a shattered world, fragments of a broken life can be rebuilt. But what happens when ghosts of the past coming racing back into your life again? </p><p>Piece by piece, Loki has picked up his broken life. It can’t be completely fixed, but it can be built as something else, something happier. But now he’s faced with the task of trying to repair his broken relationship with his “family.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: In My Arms

**Author's Note:**

> (In honour of it being Tom Hiddleston's birthday today, I've decided to post this one earlier than planned. Don’t ask about the title, couldn’t come up with a better one)

_“Clouds will raise up,_

_Storms will race in,_

_But you will be safe in my arms,_

_Rains will pour down,_

_Waves will crash all around,_

_But you will be safe in my arms...”_

Georgiana wasn’t sure what had woken her at first. It was raining outside, but that was nothing new, it rained a lot out here in the Outskirts, beyond the borders surrounded Asgard, between that realm and the realm of Vanaheimr. And she was a fairly heavy sleeper, even thunderstorms didn’t wake her in the night. And it hadn’t been a dream, she hadn’t felt jolted out of sleep, just suddenly aware of something not being right in the room.

 

Closing her eyes, she settled her head back onto the pillow, her left hand pawing about for that of her husband, and then it occurred to her what was wrong. Her husband wasn’t in bed beside her, she had sensed the absence of his presence. Raising her head, she blinked around the dimly lit room and then found him standing over by the window, staring out into the rain.

 

She frowned. It was no secret to her that her husband, like everyone, suffered the occasional nightmare, but generally when that happened, she would find him cuddled up against her in need of her comfort, not as far away from her as he could get in this room without actually leaving it. Worried, Georgiana slid out of bed and padded over to him, wrapping her arms around him from behind.

 

Loki sighed.

 

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he apologized.

 

Georgiana shrugged, an indication that she didn’t care. “Tell me what’s wrong,” she murmured back, her voice laced with sleep. “What did you dream?”

 

Loki closed his eyes and reached for her hands, gripping them firmly in his own. “I was gone...you...everyone...you were terrified...and there was nothing I could do...”

 

Georgiana raised her head and turned him gently to face her. Loki was about an inch taller than she was, but now she felt as if it was the other way around, as if he were the smaller of them, the one in need of protecting from everything bad in the world, seeking her comforting touch.

 

“No one’s going to take you away from me,” she whispered, firmly. “Not now, not ever.”

 

Loki pulled her close and rested his forehead against hers. Georgiana closed her eyes and slid her arms around his neck. She knew his story, knew everything about how he had come to be at this precise moment in time, how his world had been turned upside down, completely shattered, and how he had finally reached the point where it felt like he was whole again. She understood his fears completely.

 

“Georgiana...” Loki let the sentence drift, unsure of how to go on, how to express what he was truly feeling in words. One hand left her waist to cup the back of her head. “You’re all I have to lose in this world.”

 

“None of us are going anywhere, Loki,” Georgiana breathed. “It was just a dream.”

 

Those were the words of reassurance he was seeking. Loki leaned in and kissed her, and Georgiana sighed in pleasure as she returned it, clinging tighter to him. Loki picked her up, his mouth never leaving hers, and carried her over to the bed, climbing in beside her. Georgiana could feel the tension, the fear, leaving him and when they finally parted for air, she snuggled against him, a reassurance of her constant presence, and her deep, unending love for him.

 

“It was just a dream,” she repeated.

 

She felt him nod and then kiss the top of her head, and she smiled.

 

“Georgiana?”

 

“Mm?”

 

“How did I ever manage before I met you?” Loki asked, fondly.

 

“I shudder to think,” Georgiana teased, and they both laughed, softly, before Loki wrapped both arms tightly around her and kissed her forehead.

 

“I love you,” he murmured.

 

“I love you too,” Georgiana whispered.

 

Loki felt his heart give a little kick, like it did every time she said it. Back before all of this had happened, back when everything was whole right before it shattered and became rebuilt anew, he could never imagine someone loving him, not in the way they all seemed to love his brother, at any rate. It was no secret that he was the black sheep of the family, had always been, but that had never made it any less painful, remembering that everyone always favoured his brother.

 

And yet, in escaping from all that, liberating himself from the trappings of royalty and secrets and scandals, he had found it, the love he was seeking, and it was the most wonderful thing in the whole of the Nine Realms. And he had found himself, here, found his place in the world, away from everything that had happened before.

 

Where he belonged.

 

So, he closed his eyes and slept, with his beautiful wife cuddled up against him, neither of them aware that, not too far away from them, the Crown Prince of Asgard was still searching for his brother...

 


	2. Chapter 1: For The First Time In Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Please don’t shut me out again,  
> Please don’t slam the door,  
> You don’t have to keep your distance anymore...”

Thor sighed. Ever since that day, that day when the truth had come out, when Loki had learned that he wasn’t an Aesir but the unwanted offspring of a Frost Giant, adopted by Odin after a battle, ever since that day he had abandoned the palace and just vanished into who knew where, he had been searching.

 

And why?

 

Because he wanted his brother back. There was no other explanation.

 

The Outskirts was one of the few places he hadn’t thought to venture yet. His first choice had, of course, been Jotunheim, and after spending almost five months searching the entire frozen realm, shivering, ice fishing and being chased by angry Jotuns who had thought he was launching some kind of invasion, or else spying on them, he had given up and tried Svartalfheim. That had yielded pretty much the same results, as has Midgard, as had Nioavellir, as had Vanaheimr, as had Niflheimr, as had everywhere else he had searched for the past eight years.

 

Eight years, had it really been that long? Thor shook his head. What if he never found Loki? What if he wasn’t even..?

 

He quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind. No. He would know if something was wrong. Despite not actually sharing the same blood, Thor had always believed that they shared an empathetic connection, and that if something happened to one of them the other would somehow feel it.

 

Thor had, of course, done the easy thing, and asked Heimdall if he could see Loki anywhere, but rather mysteriously, all the Gatekeeper had said was that Loki was in a place where he didn’t wish to be found. So, now, it was down to doing it the hard way and searching each realm manually, and Thor had decided that he wasn’t giving up until he had at least heard _something_ of his brother.

 

Not that he could picture his brother living in a place like the Outskirts, mind, the agricultural, simple little place that it was, after all neither he nor Loki knew anything about farming or country living, having been raised in a palace. But it didn’t hurt just to check.

 

Music was pouring from a nearby tavern as the local town players rehearsed for their set that night, and in a way Thor found it oddly comforting. He did feel rather out of place dressed in his formal armour and cloak and holding an overly-large hammer, whilst the milling traders around him wore simple clothing and carried tools of their trade, alright, so a hammer could be counted as a tool of trade in some contexts, but surely not one the size of Mjölnir. At any rate, they barely spared him a passing glance, too caught up with their own business to worry about an in-comer, and he was grateful for that, it helped him to blend in amongst the hustle and bustle of market day shouts.

 

“Frans, I’ve got your preserves!”

 

“Brigid, hurry up with those rolls! We’ve people waiting!”

 

“Two yards today, was it, Miss Hestia?”

 

“Lander, where’s that cheese? I haven’t got all day, boy!”

 

Thor lost himself amongst the throng of traders, not noticing that that which he sought was actually closer at hand than he knew.

 

Over at the mill, Pieter hefted the enormous sack of flour over the threshing floor as Loki untied the rope he had previously been using to carry the large sack of onions from their house. Living where they did in the midst of wild country, he and Georgiana held a trade with the people who lived in the centre of the town, who didn’t have the soil to grow their own produce and therefore had to rely on traders in order to avoid scurvy. Looking back, Loki could remember the time when all this had been new to him, when he had first picked up the vegetable sack and promptly fallen over with the unexpected weight of it, and how Georgiana had laughed before she had picked him up and helped him with it; and yet now, it was all second nature to him.

 

Life was like that, sometimes, he reflected, it was easy once you got use to what you were doing with it.

 

“By the way, Margah wants you to come for dinner tomorrow night,” Pieter grinned as Loki tied up the flour sack. “If you can.”

 

“Well, we’re not doing anything else,” Loki grinned. “And I’m sure Georgiana will be delighted that she won’t have to cook.”

 

They both laughed but as Loki went to pick up the sack, his expression faded. Pieter frowned. His friend seemed to be watching someone a little way away.

 

“Everything alright?” he ventured.

 

Loki glanced at him and then pulled himself together. “Just thought I saw someone I knew,” he replied, picking up the sack and hefting it onto his back. “But I was mistaken.”

 

Pieter frowned and then shrugged, and Loki thanked the Norns that he was such an expert liar. They parted ways on the promise of meeting up the following night and then Loki quickly made his way back to the house without looking back. He couldn’t shake the fear that followed him. What was Thor doing here? Why was he even asking that question? He knew the answer already. It was just like his brother to suddenly show up, just when he had managed to rebuild his life anew, to ask him to come back to Asgard.

 

“That’s not happening,” he muttered as he finally reached their front gate and as able to drop the sack for a minute to get some respite. He stretched, feeling the satisfying pop of muscles shifting back into place, before glancing about the garden. A few optimistic ravens were pecking about the soil near the cabbage patch, which he had yet to dig over. That was another job for today. With a smile, Loki bent down, retrieved a stone and threw it at them. They both took off with disgruntled caws and a flurry of feathers. Picking up the sack, Loki looked towards the house, where he could hear Georgiana humming to herself. Best not to tell her, he decided, what she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her, and besides, there were more important things to do than worry over his brother.

 

So, he said nothing about the incident and pushed it to the back of his mind as he went about his day as usual. There was wood to be cut, most importantly, so he undertook that task first, occasionally throwing stones to keep ravens and rabbits away from the garden. From the kitchen, Georgiana watched him for a while, smiling, marvelling over the man she had married, before going back to preparing the meat for that night’s dinner.

 

Weed removal was next, but that didn’t take too long, not with the aid of magic at any rate, although as usual he was careful to make sure that no one saw it. One thing Loki had been determined about when he had found this place was that no one would know his true story, the story of what he actually was or where he had come from. Of course, that had lasted for about four hours because Georgiana, clever as she was, had worked out that he was actually royalty, but she was sworn to secrecy about it, and his magic. In time, Loki had finally opened up to her about the truth of his heritage, but she had accepted it, due to being an outsider herself. At any rate, Loki chose to only use his magic for anything when there was no chance of anyone other than Georgiana seeing it. It was better that way, avoided a lot of questions.

 

He picked up the spade and began to turn over the soil, a task that he actually enjoyed since it gave him room to think. He had almost finished, all thoughts of seeing his brother again now completely banished from his mind, and the sun was beginning to set on the horizon, when he heard that familiar voice, a voice that, even in the last eight years, he hadn’t forgotten.

 

“Loki?”

 

He stiffened, and then, with a sigh, stopped what he was doing and turned. Thor was standing a little way behind him, his expression a mixture of surprise and anxiety. Digging the spade upright into the soil, Loki faced his brother, knowing that Thor’s surprise mainly came from seeing his brother dressed like an ordinary farmer, his Asgardian armour absent, and actually working like one too.

 

There was a pause, in which the wind lifted, plucking at their clothing and hair, and then settled like a bedspread around them.

 

“What are you doing?” Thor asked, finally.

 

“Turning the soil,” Loki answered.

 

“Why?”

 

“Because if I don’t, we won’t be able to plant anything.”

 

“No, that’s not-”

 

“I know what you meant, Thor.”

 

Another pause, neither of them sure what to say.

 

“You’ve not changed much,” Loki finally commented.

 

Thor looked at his brother, carefully. “Why did you leave, Loki? There was no need.”

 

Loki was surprised. He had half expected Thor to be angry with him for leaving. Taking a deep breath, he folded his arms and fixed his brother with what he hoped was a neutral expression.

 

“There was every need,” he countered, calmly. “I assume...Odin told you? About me?”

 

“That doesn’t change anything,” Thor insisted. “We were raised together, we played together, we fought together.” He paused before adding, meaningfully, “You’re still my brother.”

 

For the first time, Loki managed a smile. “Well, I won’t say it’s not good to see you,” he admitted. “Because it is.”

 

Thor’s face split into a grin and before Loki had a chance to move, he had seized his little brother in a rib-cracking hug.

 

“Thor, you’re killing me!” Loki gasped, wriggling free, although he couldn’t help returning his brother’s grin. Suddenly, it was like nothing had changed, like they were still boys running around the ground in the palace, laughing together, stealing sweetmeats from the kitchens and outrunning the servants who ran after them to scold them, all those little mischievous shared moments that made up their childhood suddenly rushing back to them both in that moment.

 

“I must admit,” Thor grinned, running a hand through his hair, “I never took you for the farming sort, Brother.”

 

“Well, it’s actually fairly easy when you know what you’re doing,” Loki replied, deftly kicking a stone out of the soil with one foot.

 

Thor’s expression saddened, slightly. “Everyone misses you, Loki. Mother, Father...”

 

“How are they?” Loki asked, after a beat. Of course he hadn’t stopped caring about any of them, it was just that, well, he just hadn’t felt able to stay after learning the truth. Not a day went by when he didn’t find himself wondering what they must be up to, whether they were alright.

 

“Fine,” Thor answered, with a shrug, “Just, like I said, missing you...” Loki waited for his brother to say what he knew was coming. “Come home, Loki. Come back to Asgard with me.”

 

Perhaps, Loki thought, if Thor had found him six or seven years ago, he would have accepted, but that was then. Things were different now.

 

He sighed. “Thor-”

 

“Please?” Thor interrupted, fixing his brother with an appealing look. “I want my brother back, Loki.”

 

Loki felt genuinely torn, but he knew he had to be firm. “I can’t, Thor.”

 

“Why?”

 

Loki took a deep breath...and then felt something knock into the back of his legs. He looked down, his expression softening at the sight of the tiny girl with dark, almost but not quite raven, hair holding up her arms, the signal that she wanted to be picked up. Loki obliged, tossing her up into the air once before catching her and holding her as she giggled in delight and snuggled into him, hiding her face in his shoulder. Loki looked up to see Thor staring at him.

 

“This is why,” he admitted, kissing the girl’s hair.

 

Thor found his voice. “You’ve got a family?”

 

Loki nodded before glancing at the sky. It would be dark soon and his daughter wasn’t wearing a coat. “Come in and meet them,” he offered, gesturing towards the house.

 

Thor said nothing, just fell into step beside his brother, his mind in a whirl. Of all possible scenarios he had envisioned Loki being part of, this was _not_ one of them. Every image he had had of his brother living elsewhere had been of Loki alone, not with a wife, nor with a child, and yet something about the way his brother held his daughter as he carried her to the house just seemed so natural. He wondered why he had never considered the possibility before.

 

Inside the house, Georgiana was just brushing the flour from her hands when her son came running up to her. Fenrir was now six years old, growing up fast but still very young in a lot of ways, even though he had his father’s alert reflexes and intelligence.

 

“Mama, Papa’s talking to someone outside!” he reported, skidding to a halt in front of her.

 

“Oh?” Georgiana was surprised. “Who?”

 

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen him before,” Fenrir shrugged.

 

Georgiana frowned and then glanced around the room. “Where’s Hela?”

 

“She’s-!” Fenrir looked around the room too and then looked scared. Before he could say anything, though, Loki came in, carrying the girl, followed by their mysterious visitor. Georgiana let out a small sigh of relief as Loki turned to his son.

 

“Fen, will you take your sister for a bit, please?” he asked.

 

Hela seemed perfectly happy to be passed onto her brother, who nodded and reached up to take her. He eyed Thor with only a hint of suspicion in his eyes. “Who are you?”

 

Thor offered the boy what he hoped was a friendly smile. “My name’s Thor.”

 

“Oh, alright,” Fenrir replied, as if that settled the matter, and he took his sister over to the corner of the room where they had previously been playing together before she decided to wander off.

 

Loki and Georgiana exchanged a smile and then Loki reached for her hand. “Georgiana, I’d like you to meet my brother,” he said.

 

Georgiana stepped forwards and held her free hand out to Thor. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” she smiled.

 

“I wish I could say the same,” Thor responded, kindly, taking her hand and kissing it. “How long have you been married?”

 

“Seven years,” Loki answered, feeling a twinge of guilt.

 

“Will you stay for dinner?” Georgiana asked.

 

“Oh, I don’t want to impose,” Thor began.

 

“No, it’s no trouble,” Georgiana insisted. “I always make far too much for just four people anyway.”

 

Thor smiled, politely. “Well, in that case I’d be honoured.”

 

Loki relaxed, slightly, the awkwardness of the moment fading, and offered Thor the nearest chair. Accepting it, Thor glanced over at the two children playing in the corner of the room. Unlike his sister, Fenrir had his mother’s colouring, but they both they had their father’s green eyes. A thought suddenly struck him but he had no idea how to voice it.

 

“How old are they?” he asked, instead.

 

“Fenrir’s six and Hela’s two,” Loki answered.

 

Four years between them, just like...

 

Thor smiled at the thought, watching Fenrir pick up a small wooden toy dragon and make it growl playfully at Hela, who just giggled, not a bit scared. His curiousity must have shown on his face, however, or else Loki knew his brother better than he had anticipated, but at any rate, Loki added “I know what you’re wondering.” Thor looked at his brother, who was watching him carefully. “You’re wondering if they’ve inherited my Jotun genes.”

 

“Have they?” Thor asked.

 

Loki nodded. “Yes, but we’ve taught them how to hide it. The last thing we want is for the people here to get scared of us.”

 

Thor sighed and leaned his arms on the table. “If I’d known it would make you leave-”

 

“That’s not why I left, Thor,” Loki interrupted. Thor frowned and he elaborated. “I’m not ashamed of what I am. I just...It explained a lot. I’ve never really fitted in back there, we both know. But now I feel like I do, here.” He sighed and rubbed his face. “I don’t know how to explain it any more clearly-”

 

“I understand,” Thor interrupted. He offered his brother a sad smile. “I just wish you could have let me know where you were.”

 

Loki took a deep breath. “You’re right. I should have. I suppose I didn’t because I knew you’d try to talk me into coming back...and to be perfectly honest, I don’t feel like I can.”

 

Thor nodded, slowly. “Also, Mother would kill you if she knew you’d had children without telling her,” he pointed out.

 

They both laughed.

 

“She would,” Loki agreed. Georgiana came up with bowls, then, and he got to his feet, calling over to his son. “Fen! Dinner!”

 

“Aw!” Fenrir sighed but got to his feet and picked up Hela. Loki couldn’t smiling as he watched his son walk his sister over to her chair and help her up. He was always very protective of her. Fenrir hoisted himself up onto the chair beside Thor’s and looked up at him, curiously. “Are you staying the night?” he asked.

 

“Fenrir!” Georgiana hissed, shooting Thor an apologetic look.

 

Thor just smiled. “That’s very polite of you to offer...Fenrir, but maybe another time.”

 

“Oh, alright,” Fenrir shrugged, before picking up his spoon.

 

Loki glanced at his brother, his look meaningful.

 

 _“Will you come back?”_ it said.

 

And Thor shot back a look that spoke volumes.

 

_“Try and stop me.”_


End file.
